United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society

United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society

United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society
The building of UNU-CS in Macau
Abbreviation	UNU-CS
Formation	2015
Type	University, Think Tank
Legal status	Active
Headquarters	Japan Tokyo Shibuya
Website	cs.unu.edu

The United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society (UNU-CS; Chinese: 聯合國大學計算與社會研究所) is an institute of the United Nations University (UNU), located in São Lázaro, Macau, China. Established in 2015, UNU-CS intends to assist the UN to achieve its agenda by working as a bridge between the UN and the international academic and public policy communities, training the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists in computing, social sciences and design for international development.

UNU-CS succeeds the United Nations University International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST), which was created by the United Nations University in Macau in 1991 following the agreement between the UN, the governments of Macao, Portugal and China. After the Transfer of sovereignty over Macau, UNU-IIST lost some level of visibility. In 2015, the UNU-CS director Professor Michael L. Best was in charge of building the new succeeding institute “from scratch.”

The goal of UNU-CS is "to nurture the next generation of computer and social scientists with the ability to participate in, shape and benefit from the rapid development of the global information society."

A research start-up, UNU-CS aims to do the following:

According to its founding director, Professor Michael Best, his goal is "to raise the profile of the Institute as a centre of excellence in the UN system effectively responding to the needs of the developing world in this crucially important area.”

As of 2015, Professor Best directs the Technologies and International Development Lab as an associate professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the journal Information Technologies and International Development and a faculty associate of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

Professor Best leads the Global Computing column for Communications of the ACM. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and has served as director of Media Lab Asia in India and head of the eDevelopment group at the MIT Media Lab.